1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to boresight alignment testing, and more particularly it relates to a simple and compact device for attachment to a laser designator which enables the boresight alignment of the designator to be quickly and readily checked.
2. Description of the Prior Art including Prior Art Statement
Laser designators have been employed to direct a laser beam onto a target in order to illuminate the target so that it may be fired at from a location remote from that of the designator. Since laser designators can be readily portable, they may be carried by a user over rugged terrain to locations where it would be undesirable or even impossible to locate larger and bulkier equipment.
It is desirable for the user of a laser designator to be able to periodically test the boresight alignment of the designator to make sure that the emitted laser beam is accurately aligned with the reticle in the optics through which the user sights the target. In the prior art, equipment for carrying out such boresight alignment testing was relatively bulky, heavy, and expensive.
Exemplary boresight alignment testing apparatus of the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,769 to E. F. McCrum et al. In the apparatus disclosed in this patent, a rotatably mounted boresighting system is adapted to be moved between a "stow" position and a "boresight" position. When in the boresight position, an infrared laser beam is reflected by a rhomboid pair of mirrors and a parabolic mirror onto a focal point on target material, and upon absorption of the infrared laser radiation, the target material emits radiation in both visible and infrared wavelength bands. The mirror system directs a central portion of the radiation emitted by the target material to a visible band detector and directs another portion of this radiation to an infrared band detector. The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,769 is especially suitable for use aboard aircraft to sense distant images and present these images to the pilot on a CRT display. It does not lend itself for in-the-field checking of the boresight alignment of a portable laser designator.